While conceding that Workman "may have been a little extreme" in her insistence on protocol, chief administrative officer David Marshall nevertheless defended the need for organizational structure.

"I understand why the mayor wanted some sense of control over employees in her portfolio," he said.

Marshall said there was a problem, when the new council-mayor form of government was put in place four years ago, with council members directing county employees to do things without the mayor's permission or even knowledge.

"We were still working through the separation of powers," he said.

Nevertheless, as council candidate Jenny Wilson has repeatedly pointed out, the council has oversight responsibility, and Wilde said now is the time to take that to heart.

"If anything, I think the council has given too much power to the mayor, and the mayor has taken too much power to herself," he said. "Some of the things that are beginning to pile up — we need to make things better."

Communication has already opened up somewhat under Acting Mayor Alan Dayton. To almost universal approbation, one of Dayton's first actions was to include more people within his inner circle, expanding the mayor's cabinet to include department directors.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com